I went to a shiva yesterday for a friend’s mother. It was in the evening. A bit uncertain about dress, I wore a conservative suit and a tie. When I arrived, I realized most of the people were more casually dressed. A bit embarrassed, I mentioned to a friend that I felt overdressed. He said, “Don’t worry about it. You’re never overdressed in a suit.”
And yes, this does relate to writing. Modern punctuation trends seem to be minimalist to the point that one is occasionally confused (as in “Let’s eat Grandma.”). My tepid response to this trend has been to drop the series comma before ‘and.’ The editor says No … stick with the Oxford comma (red, white, and blue). The publisher can always take it out. But one is never overdressed in the Oxford comma.
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Author: John Rogers
I have thought of myself as a writer for most of my adult life. In 2011, I became a fiction writer full time. I studied creative writing as an English major in college. Then came family and career. I worked in finance and biotech and did a wonderful stint in Vienna. Now, I have the opportunity to use those experiences as the substrate for my stories. My first novel takes on the world of Big Data and the very timely issue of cyber war. The second uses the manipulation of financial derivatives as impetus for attempted murder during a trip from Vienna to Budapest on the Danube.
I have taken writing instruction at the Cape Cod Writers Conference and from The Loft in Minneapolis. I am finding writers’ groups to be very helpful as concept editors, as well as practical advice from the published authors. I am in three such groups. I have taken writing instruction at the Cape Cod Writers Conference and from The Loft in Minneapolis.
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Amen, amen, and amen.